The Harvest of Polluted Air

What’s in today’s article:

• Stubble Burning – reasons, areas where this practice is rampant, steps taken etc.
• News Summary

Why in news?

• The haze and smoke over Delhi has become an annual event for about three weeks in October-November.
• The current situation has triggered a temporary ban on construction activities and the movement of trucks and diesel four-wheelers that do not comply with BS-VI norms.

Stubble Burning

Why Farmers opt for Stubble Burning?

• Rice and wheat straws left in the field, after combine harvesting, are generally burnt by the farmers to facilitate seed bed preparation and seeding.
• Farmers find this method as quick and cheap compared to other practices for crop residue management.
• Since input costs of farming is going up day by day, farmers are not willing to further invest in equipments useful for crop residue management.
• Happy Seeder (a tractor-operated machine for in-situ management of paddy stubble) continues to be an expensive method for majority of farmers.

Areas where this practice is rampant

• Burning of agricultural residue is done on a large-scale basis in states such as Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and National Capital Region of Delhi.
• This is prevalent in other states too. This includes: Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal etc.

Steps Taken by the government to tackle this issue

• Taken by Centre
  • A Central Sector Scheme on ‘Promotion of Agricultural Mechanisation for In-Situ Management of Crop Residue in the States of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and NCT of Delhi’ was approved.
  • Farmers are being provided 50 percent of the cost of machinery/equipment as financial assistance for the purchase of such machinery.
  • Over the last three years, the Centre has been heavily subsidizing various agriculture machines.
  • Profit from the left-over biomass is shared with farmers.
• Taken by State Governments and Other agencies
  • States governments and other agencies are sensitising farmers on healthier practices.
  • Recently Punjab government decided to give incentives to industries which install paddy-straw-fired boilers.
  • It also decided to provide non-fiscal incentives to these industries in terms of availability of Panchayat land for storage of paddy straw with lease agreement upto 33 years.
• Pusa Decomposer
  • It is a bio-enzyme developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) to decompose crop residue.
  • It decomposes stubble within 20-25 days after spraying and turn it into manure, improving the soil quality.
  • It is cost effective as well. One packet of four capsule costs Rs 20 and can be used to make 25 litres of solution that can be used in one hectare.

Way Forward:

• Creation of markets for crop residue-based briquettes (a compressed block of combustible biomass material)
• Nearby thermal power plants must mandatorily undertake co-firing of crop residues with coal
• A special credit line should be established for financing farm equipment and working capital for private sector participation
• Alternate beneficial use of crop residues must be promoted.
  • These include: compost production, bioenergy production, biochar production, in pulp and paper industry etc.
• There is a huge potential to convert crop residues and food/ plant wastes into bio-fuel. Government should start incentivising industries engaged in production of bio-fuels.

News Summary

• The haze and smoke over Delhi has triggered a temporary ban on construction activities and the movement of trucks and diesel four-wheelers that do not comply with BS-VI norms.
• The Supreme Court will hear a petition on agricultural stubble burning in the northern states.
• The stubble burning is considered the prime reason for the extremely bad air quality in Delhi-NCR.

Factors responsible for the pollution

• Burning of agricultural waste
  • At this time of the year, the burning of agricultural waste in Punjab and Haryana is indeed the dominant reason for the smoke and haze over Delhi.
  • The particulate matter from the burning contributes 30-40% of the PM2.5 concentrations in Delhi’s air during this time.
• Weather
  • The weather also plays a critical role as well — a 30-40% rise in pollutants at any other time of the year would not cause the same impact.
  • During October-November, the pollutants are trapped and tend to get concentrated at lower levels of the atmosphere, resulting in the smoke and haze situation that is being witnessed now.
    • During summer time, hotter air rises higher above the surface, and takes the pollutants along with it.
    • Hence, the polluting particles are lifted 2-3 km above the surface or even higher, before getting dispersed.
• Other factors
  • Construction activities; Movement of diesel vehicles, particularly older trucks etc.